Motor vehicles, and in particular larger vehicles such as busses, trucks and the like, require an array of mirrors mounted on exterior surfaces of these vehicles in order to improve the visibility and field of view of the driver in and around the vehicle. These visibility and field of view improvements are intended to increase safety, particularly for pedestrians and children when the vehicle is a school bus. Typically, a vehicle mirror element has a mounting structure integrated therein, such as a staff or pole attached thereto. The mounting structure is secured within or to one end of a mounting arm. The other end of the mounting arm is attached to the body of a vehicle. Alternatively, other vehicle mirror elements have receptacles formed in the body thereof for receipt of one end of the mounting arm. The other end of the mounting arm is secured to the vehicle to attach the mirror to the body of the vehicle.
It is of paramount importance to maintain the position of an adjustable vehicular mirror as the vehicle travels. As is known, during vehicle operation, the mirror can vibrate and move, which can compromise the driver's field of view and/or visibility. This is especially true when the mirrors are mounted at the front end of the vehicle beyond the driver's ability to reach and correct mirror movement while operating the vehicle, such as is encountered with trucks, busses, and larger vehicles of the like. Various mechanisms for reducing mirror vibration have been utilized in the art, however, they can be relatively expensive and have other disadvantages.
As is known, when vehicle mirrors are attached to the vehicle, they typically protrude outwardly from the side of the vehicle to provide the driver with a better field of view to potential blind spots on the front or side of the vehicle, which is the cause of many accidents. However, to provide a broader field of view, the mirror must be mounted with an arm that extends further outwardly from the side of the vehicle, which increases the effective width or length of the vehicle. Additionally, to minimize mirror vibration, the mounting structures are typically configured such that they are stiff and inflexible or have reinforcing structures incorporated into the mounting structure.
Because these mirrors are typically mounted to larger and wider vehicles such as trucks, busses, and the like, the mirrors are more susceptible to inadvertently striking various objects, such as mailboxes, trees, other cars, etc. This contact between the mirror and/or mirror assembly can cause significant damage to the mirror, particularly because of the stiffness of the mounting structures. Thus, when a mirror strikes an object at a large enough force, the mirror and/or the mounting arm, can be damaged, which necessitates repair or replacement of the mirror and/or the mounting arm. Additionally, depending upon the force at which the mirror is struck, the mirror can cause the side of the vehicle to be dented, damaged, ripped or torn off, which necessitates repair of the vehicle itself and increases the cost to operate the vehicle. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a vehicular mirror that provides sufficient field of view, and overcomes these longevity problems.